Module Summary Content and Aims

Aim and Summary

Welcome to the module. The weekly subjects can be found on the Ulearn and Blackboard VLE. The module aims to provide students with a conceptual understanding of business organisations in relation to their structure, operation, management and environment.

The department of Business Innovation and Skills estimates that 99.9% of all private sector businesses in the UK were SMEs.  The vast majority (99.3%) of all businesses are small businesses.  Even larger firms were once very successful small businesses.

“Since the late 20^th century we have come to realise that new forms have done more to create wealth than firms at any time before them – ever!  95% of the wealth in the USA was created since 1980.” (Burns, 2011)

This module is designed to give you an insight into the nature of SMEs and the people that run them.  You will engage in a consultancy type project in which you will undertake an evaluation of a small business and develop a growth, or development strategy for them.

The aim of the module is to provide students with the opportunity to:

1. Critically evaluate contemporary issues relating to SMEs
2. Explore strategic issues in SME management
3. Explore alternative routes of business development in SMEs
4. Investigate and evaluate diverse business development methods in SMEs
5. Analyse financial aspects of business expansion in SMEs
6. Critically appraise change and development processes in SMEs

1. Understanding the meaning and nature enterprise and entrepreneurial process
2. The nature, characteristics and variety of small business,
3. Challenging conventional views on small business and entrepreneurship
4. Becoming an entrepreneur and running a small business
5. Growth and consolidation of the entrepreneurial venture
6. Finance & Small Business
7. The entrepreneur and the macro-economic environment
8. Enterprise policy and government intervention
9. Social Enterprise and its growing importance

Specific expectations students can have of tutors:

• Constructive formative feedback on one assignment draft per assessment
• Workshop slides made available on blackboard prior to session
• Assessment marks and summative feedback given within fifteen working days from the assessment submission deadline

Specific expectations tutors will have of students:

• Attend all teaching and activity sessions and arrive punctually
• Behave professionally in classes and avoid disruption to class and other students
• Inform tutor via email beforehand when not able to attend any classes
• Participate and communicate professionally in class and with tutors

Attempt all assessments by submission deadline and communicate with the tutor if there are any extenuating circumstances to explore extensions requests and/or mitigation claims

There is one assessment for this module. The assignment consists of a formative (draft) and a summative (final) element.  The formative task is there to help you complete the summative assessment task successfully. The formative process is important because it will help you address the task more fully and therefore contributes to your learning and understanding of the challenges facing SMEs and help you develop your business development & planning skills in relation to SMEs.  

You will be required to undertake a detailed evaluation of an existing SME and then design and growth/development strategy for the business.  You will present your findings in a report and make clear and costed recommendations  

Students will need to research a small, or medium sized business.  You should try to determine the following during the research:

• The nature of the entrepreneur behind the venture.
• The SME start-up processes.
• The business concept and any sources of competitive advantage
• The current level of demand and the competitive environment
• The growth and development of the business to date
• The challenges of managing and running the business
• The SMEs current growth and development strategy
• Any government support measures that may be available to help the business overcome the challenges faced

You are required to complete a ‘reflective journal’ as part of your assignment; it will account for 10% of the marks. Entries should be made weekly based upon the course content covered and should be relatively short in nature; around 200 words per week will suffice although students are free to write freely in any style that works for them. The entries need only cover the ‘key points’ from each week and not be detailed in natureThe entries are private, accessible to you, your personal tutor and the instructors on the course. They will become a useful starting point for your assignment. These four questions will help to act as a catalyst for your journal but you may record and write anything that feels right for you:

1. What thoughts were prompted in your mind with this weeks’ material?
2. What did you find interesting in this weeks’ material?
3. What did you learn this week?
4. How might this learning help you with your assignment?

Your reflective journal will be held online in Blackboard under the ‘MSME reflective journal’ tab and the entries you make each week will be recorded and dated for you to review at any time. Entries are required each week for the first 10 weeks of the Semester.

You should make use of all available sources and current thinking on SMEs should be central to your analysis and illustrated with reference to current articles from relevant journals and from broadsheet newspapers (e.g. FT). Use should be made of the library’s electronic databases such as Summon, Emerald, etc.  You should apply theoretical concepts and models relating to the entrepreneurial process and to the various stages of growth and development of the business.

Once you have done your research you will need to write your report in which you will present your findings and your recommendations for the future growth and development for the business.  You are advised to adopt the following structure for the report:

• Title page: Include module title, the names of the SME discussed, student ID number and the total word count (excluding bibliography)
• Contents page
• Introduction: this should include some background on the SME and entrepreneur(s).  You may wish to include details such as the type of business, size, how long it has been trading, etc.  Students should also give a brief account here of the research process (focusing primarily on the secondary data collection).  The aims and objectives of the report, or the terms of reference should be clearly spelled out and should obviously relate to the assessment brief above; with 8 components.
• Findings: here the results of the research need to be presented.  This section should follow along the lines of the aims and objectives highlighted in the introduction.  The purpose in this section is to set out the elements covered as part of the research set out above. This should include the nature of the entrepreneur, the start-up process, the business concept and competitive advantage, the current level of demand the competitive environment, the growth and development of the business to date, the challenges of managing and running the SME, and your assessment of current growth and development strategy. Students should also highlight appropriate government support schemes that may be available to the business.  Students are also expected to consistently support their work with reference to appropriate sources and course materials (cited in accordance with the Harvard referencing convention).
• Conclusions: this should follow logically on from the findings and provide a concise summary of them.  No new information should be presented here.
• Recommendations: here students should present their proposals for the future growth and development of their SMEs and these should be costed, compelling and persusive.  Work should be supported with reference to appropriate sources.

References and Bibliography: you should be discerning about your sources of information and ensure that all references conform to the Harvard convention.